[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 139 (Friday, July 19, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47501-47502]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-18361]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

42 CFR Part 83


Procedures for Designating Classes of Employees as Members of the 
Special Exposure Cohort Under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act of 2000; Meetings

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of meetings and opportunity to comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 
announces public meetings to present the U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services (HHS) proposed rule for adding classes of employees to 
the Special Exposure Cohort Under the Energy Employees Occupational 
Illness Compensation Program Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Elliott, Executive Secretary, 
ABRWH, NIOSH, CDC, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, 
telephone 513/841-4498, fax 513/458-7125.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Time and Date: 7 p.m.-9 p.m., July 23, 2002.
    Place: Buffalo Niagara Marriott, 1340 Millersport Highway, Amherst, 
New York. Telephone: 716/689-6900.

    Time and Date: 7 p.m.-9 p.m., July 25, 2002.
    Place: Sharonville Convention Center, 11355 Chester Road, 
Sharonville, Ohio. Telephone: 513/771-7744.

    Time and Date: 7 p.m.-9 p.m., August 7, 2002.
    Place: Red Lion Hotel, Richland Hanford House, 802 George 
Washington Way, Richland, Washington. Telephone: 509/943-7611.

    Time and Date: 7 p.m.-9 p.m., August 8, 2002.
    Place: Espanola Senior Citizens Center, 735 Vietnam Veterans' 
Memorial Park Road, Espanola, New Mexico. Telephone: 505/753-9850.

    Status: Open to the public, limited only by the space available. 
The meeting rooms accommodate approximately 150 people.
    Matters To Be Discussed: In July 2001, the U.S. Department of Labor 
(DOL) began a new federal compensation program under the Energy 
Employees' Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (the Act). The 
compensation program serves employees of the U.S. Department of Energy 
(DOE), its contractors, or subcontractors, and the employees of Atomic 
Weapons Employers designated by DOE, and survivors of these employees. 
The compensation program covers claims for current or former employees 
who developed chronic beryllium disease, beryllium sensitization, 
silicosis, or cancers associated with certain defined occupational 
exposures occurring in the performance of duty for U.S. nuclear weapons 
programs. Claims for cancer have to meet conditions related to one of 
two general requirements: either (1) the cancer of the employee has to 
be found to have been at least as likely as not caused by radiation 
doses incurred by the employee in the performance of duty for the 
nuclear weapons programs, or (2) the employee must be a member of the 
``Special Exposure Cohort'' and have developed one of 22 specific 
cancer types, referred to as ``specified cancers.''
    The Act defined the initial membership of the Special Exposure 
Cohort to include qualified employees who worked at any of three 
gaseous diffusion plants of the U.S. Department of Energy or a nuclear 
weapons test site in Amchitka, Alaska. However, the Act also allows 
classes of employees from facilities of DOE or of Atomic Weapons 
Employers to petition to be added to the Special Exposure Cohort. The 
outcome of the petitions will be decided by the Secretary, HHS. The 
procedures for making and deciding such petitions are described in a 
rule (a regulation) recently proposed by HHS for public comment (42 CFR 
part 83: ``Procedures for Designating Classes of Employees as Members 
of the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational 
Illness Compensation program Act of 2000:'' Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking; 67 FR 42962; June 25, 2002). The public comment period ends 
on August 26, 2002.
    Purpose: The purpose of these public meetings is to present and 
explain the recent proposed rule by the HHS on how it would consider 
petitions to add classes of employees to the ``Special Exposure 
Cohort'' established under the Energy Employees'' Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act. The meetings will allow members of the public 
to comment in person on this proposed regulation.

[[Page 47502]]

    Matters To Be Discussed: HHS staff will give a summary presentation 
of the proposed rule. The public attending these meetings will have the 
opportunity to ask questions about the HHS rule and to comment on the 
rule. The public attending these meetings will also be encouraged to 
submit written comments to the regulatory record (docket). Official 
transcripts of the meetings, including all public comments on the 
proposed rule presented orally during the meetings, will be included in 
the public comment record (the `docket') developed as part of the HHS 
rule making. HHS will consider comments received during the public 
comment period, which concludes on August 26, 2002, before issuing a 
final rule establishing procedures for adding classes of employees to 
the Special Exposure Cohort.
    The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, has been 
delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining to 
announcements of meetings and other committee management activities for 
both CDC and ATSDR.

    Dated: July 15, 2002.
John C. Burckhardt,
Acting Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 02-18361 Filed 7-18-02; 8:45 am]
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